1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a device for collecting and processing folded printed products.
In order to manufacture newspapers, stapled magazines, advertising brochures, calendars or similar printer's products, the printed sheets after printing may further run through various working steps. Such working steps amongst other things may be collection, insertion, binding, and in particular saddle stitching, adhering etc. The increasing costs of printing and the increased demands on the flexibility during production demand newer solutions which permit savings in space, time and personnel. Various solutions which are to permit such savings have been suggested in recent years,
2. Prior Art
Thus for example in CH-667621 there has been suggested a device which permits an efficient collection and stapling in a single device. The device comprises a generally known collection drum which has a rotatingly driven drum axle with a cylindrical hub from which rests project radially outwards, whose longitudinal extensions are aligned parallel to the drum axis. The rests are uniformly distributed over the circumference and form several parallel collection paths. To each collection path there are allocated conveyor elements for conveying the printed products along the rests in the axial direction of the collection drum. Several feeder stations which, when seen in the axial direction are arranged behind one another along the collection drum, serve for depositing the folded printed products astride one another onto the saddle-like rests. So that the feeder stations may serve all collection paths, the collection drum rotates at an equal cycle rate to the feeder stations about its drum axis. Thus the printed products within the conveying direction undergo a movement in the circumferential direction about the drum axis so that as a whole there results a helix-like movement path of the printed products. For an efficient stapling after the collection, a stapling station is provided at the end of the collection drum, whose stapling heads are moveable on a circular arc section concentric to the axis of the collection drum. For stapling, the stapling heads are in each case allocated to a rest of a collection path and together with the rest is led around on the circular arc section about the axis of the collection drum. With the help of the stapling heads, wire sections bent in a U-shaped manner are pierced through the fold of the printed products so that free ends of the wire sections protrude. These free ends of the wire sections are bent into staples using bending devices, by which means the printed products are stapled.
Based on the same principle, CH-645074 discloses a device for collecting and stapling printed products present in zigzag-like sheets. The zigzag sheets in each case one after the other are deposited with a corresponding fold astride the rests of a collection drum and conveyed in helix-like movement path in the axial direction to a collection drum end. The stapling of the zigzag sheets is again effected in the end region of the collection drum.
If there are to be effected further working steps at the collection drum, then the collection drum must be extended in the axial direction which leads to very great construction lengths and this exceeds the spatial possibilities at many locations. Furthermore, one may only carry out working steps at collection drums which may be carried out with an access to the folded printed products from the outside.
The device for collecting and stapling folded printed products which is disclosed in EP-B1-0566531 is based on a completely different principle. Here the saddle-like rests are not directed in their longitudinal extension to the conveying direction as in the previously described devices, but the longitudinal extension of the rests is directed essentially at right angles to the conveying direction. The rests seen in the conveying direction are arranged behind one another and essentially parallel to one another. They are part of a revolving conveying means and are moved in a closed conveying path. For this there are provided conveyor devices engaging on the rests, such as e.g. chains which are led around two diverting wheels. The printed products in this device, resting of the rests, are moved together with the rests in the conveying direction instead of being moved on the rests using conveyor elements. On a section of revolving conveyor means which is described as a charging region, feeder stations are allocated to the feed path which deposit the folded printed products on the rests astride one another. The rests with the collected printed products are then led to the one diverting wheel to which there is allocated a stapling apparatus. The diverting wheel comprises benders distributed uniformly over its circumference which radially outwards have the same distance to one another as the feed rests and are drivingly connected to these. The rests mesh with the benders and together with the collected printed products and the benders are led past the allocated stapling apparatus. Then in the known manner wire sections bent in a U-shaped manner by the stapling apparatus are pierced through the printed products and are bent into staples using the driven bender. The meshing of the rests with the benders demands complicated mechanics and renders the device expensive and awkward in maintenance. In CH-686078 or the corresponding EP-B1-618865 there is presented a stapling apparatus in detail which is allocated to the revolving conveyor means which corresponds essentially to the revolving conveyor means described in the above mentioned EP-B1-0566531. Tn place of a deflection wheel with benders, in these documents there are described two parallel diverting wheels and additionally two stapling wheels provided with benders, which additionally complicates the construction.
EP-B1-0399317 also shows a revolving conveyor means for collecting and stapling printed products. As in the above-described revolving conveyor means here too the printed products together with the rests are conveyed along a closed conveyor path transversely to the conveying direction. The rests are arranged perpendicular to the conveying direction and parallel behind one another seen in the conveying direction. For collection the printed products again using feed stations are deposited astride the saddle-like rests. In contrast to the devices described in the previous paragraph, with this device however the benders are integrated into the rests. A stapling station is arranged after the feed station seen in the conveying direction, and comprises several stapling heads. The distance of the stapling heads is matched to the distance of the rests which these have to one another in the region of the stapling station. The stapling heads during stapling move synchronously to the rests in a plane running transversely to the rests and for stapling cooperate with benders in the rests.
As with the collection drums, with the revolving conveyor means there too arises the problem that for additional processing steps the constructional length needs to be extended in the conveying direction, which is not infinitely possible. A further problem with the revolving conveyor means is that forces which occur during certain working steps, such as e.g. stapling may only be accommodated at certain locations, in EP-B1-0566531.
One possibility for the flexible use of space for various working steps is disclosed in EP-B1-0681979. With this device for collecting and processing folded printed products a collection drum is combined with a revolving conveyor. The collection drum in the usual manner serves the collection of the printed products. The collected printed products are transferred to the revolving conveyor and here may be subjected to further working steps, i.e. adhesive binding or stapling, wherein adhesive binding is shown in detail in EP-A1-0675005. The axial direction of the collection drum and the conveyor direction in the revolving conveyor are perpendicular to one another in this device. On collection of the printed products these are moved along on the rests to a first collection drum end. The collection drum end is determined by the end of the rests of the collection drum. The hub of the collection drum on the other hand extends beyond the end of the collection drum. The revolving conveyor is arranged adjacent to the collection drum end. Chains which serve as conveyor devices in the revolving conveyor and engage radially on the inside on its rests are led around that part of the hub projecting beyond the collection drum end. This part of the hub thus serves as diverter means in the revolving conveyor and thus becomes an integral part of this. A common drive thus simultaneously provides for the rotation movement of the collection drum and for the conveyor movement of the rests in the revolving conveyor. The distance between the rests moved in the revolving path is dimensioned such that these, when they are conveyed in the region of the collection drum, are flush with the rests of the collection drum, by which means a simple transfer of the printed products from the collection drum to the revolving conveyor is possible. The printed products processed in the revolving conveyor, based on the same design, may be transferred to a further collection drum arranged displaced to the first collection drum but may also be led back to the first collection drum on a lower side belt face of the revolving conveyor and transferred to a further collection section of the first collection drum.
Although this design permits a higher flexibility of the use of space, however with this device too the use of the space is restricted since the folded printed products in each case may only be transferred in the diverting region of the revolving conveyor from the collection drum to the conveyor and from the conveyor means to the collection drum.